I think the minifigures are miles better than the Bionicle minifigs ever were, if only because their legs move independently, instead of simply rotating at the hips (which wasn't like other minifigures, or the majority of full-size Bionicle figures). The fact that their "masks" fit over regular minifig heads will help to make them more versatile, and allow for minifig cosplay! The similar scale to traditional figs will hopefully allow for more crossover appeal with non-constraction builders, as well as opening up more opportunity for ACTUAL crossovers (perhaps the figs could appear in the upcoming Lego movie?). And the fact that they're minifigs will hopefully open the door for more vehicle and location sets and if we're really lucky, a Collectible Minifigures series that could feature old, new, and never-before-sold characters (although Hero Factory is still a fairly niche theme, so I wouldn't hold my breath on that one). My only issue with the new figs is the lack of hand rotation, a feature the 2006/2007 Bionicle minifigs had, and even that disappointment is tempered by the knowledge that accessories and other parts can be clipped to the new arms.

I think the Hero Factory minifigures are awesome. Ideally, the minifigures could allow Hero Factory to return to featuring all nine of the heroes on Alpha 1 Team, and maybe even some non-hero, non-villain characters like Nathaniel Zib, Akiyama Makuro, and Daniela Capricorn. Realistically, I think the latter is too much to hope for, at least this year, but I'm still hoping for the former. It'd be a shame for Nex and Stringer to sit out another year, not to mention Bulk.I think the minifigure helmets would probably look slightly better if instead of using regular minifigure heads, the minifigures used 1x1 round bricks as their heads. But all things considered, the slightly rounder look is probably worth it for the opportunity to use Hero helmets and other minifigure headgear interchangeably. My sigfig can now cosplay as William Furno!The use of a 1x1 round tile for the Hero Cores is great. It'd be even cooler if they glowed in the dark, but I'm not counting on that, at least this year. I wonder if there will be "game codes" in next year's sets, and if so how they will be distributed, since I'm sure that they can't laser-engrave a code of that length inside a 1x1 round tile and still have it be legible. Maybe they'll be on cards like the 2004 BIONICLE "Kanoka Cards", maybe they'll be on 1x2 tiles like the Exo-Codes from LEGO Exo-Force or the game codes from this year's LEGO City Undercover set, or maybe they'll just be on the same Hero Core piece as in 2012 and 2013.I'm glad the new Hero arms and legs allow things to be clipped onto them, such as Stormer and Evo's datapads or Breez's boot-jets, but I'm a little bit sad that the heroes' wrists can't rotate, one considerable disadvantage they have compared to the Toa Inika/Piraka/Toa Mahri/Barraki minifigures or to classic minifigures. The lack of a rotating waist is less of a disadvantage, as that was always a sort of weird feature of the BIONICLE minifigures anyway.Minifigures also present a great opportunity for location-based sets, just as they did in BIONICLE. A model of the Hero Factory itself would probably have to be too large and elaborate to really be any good, but I'm currently building a model of the Assembly Tower interior on LEGO Digital Designer, and might even put it on LEGO Cuusoo if I can finish it to a state I'm happy with.Finally, in the "pie in the sky" category... wouldn't it be AWESOME to have a Hero Factory collectible minifigure series, like the LEGO Movie and Simpsons collectible minifigure series coming out next year? Just imagine being able to get all kinds of Hero Factory secondary characters, as well as classic heroes and villains, as minifigures! This is one place where the large number of humanoid characters in Hero Factory would work to the theme's advantage. Of course, this is probably not realistic. I doubt there would be as much demand for Hero Factory collectible minifigures as for ones that represent more diverse themes and genres, and Hero Factory is a pretty niche theme anyway. Plus, a lot of the more interesting and memorable Hero Factory villains (Witch Doctor, Von Nebula, XT4, Jawblade, Thornraxx, etc.) are different in size or design from the regular heroes.One potential result of Hero Factory minifigures will be that it could make Hero Factory appeal to more kids and AFOLs who are fans of traditional minifigure-based themes. Already I've seen a number of people celebrating this upcoming wave for its similarity to Exo-Force, and I anticipate a lot of similar crossover appeal once people realize that the hero minifigures and "classic minifigures" can basically be used interchangeably. Also, who knows? Maybe we'll even see Hero Factory characters show up in multi-theme crossovers like the LEGO Movie more often as a result.Overall, I think the switch to minifigures is promising, and I hope it's not just a one-year thing. It'll take some time to truly explore the new possibilities this change has opened.

I think the Hero Factory minifigures are awesome. Ideally, the minifigures could allow Hero Factory to return to featuring all nine of the heroes on Alpha 1 Team, and maybe even some non-hero, non-villain characters like Nathaniel Zib, Akiyama Makuro, and Daniela Capricorn. Realistically, I think the latter is too much to hope for, at least this year, but I'm still hoping for the former. It'd be a shame for Nex and Stringer to sit out another year, not to mention Bulk.I think the minifigure helmets would probably look slightly better if instead of using regular minifigure heads, the minifigures used 1x1 round bricks as their heads. But all things considered, the slightly rounder look is probably worth it for the opportunity to use Hero helmets and other minifigure headgear interchangeably. My sigfig can now cosplay as William Furno!The use of a 1x1 round tile for the Hero Cores is great. It'd be even cooler if they glowed in the dark, but I'm not counting on that, at least this year. I wonder if there will be "game codes" in next year's sets, and if so how they will be distributed, since I'm sure that they can't laser-engrave a code of that length inside a 1x1 round tile and still have it be legible. Maybe they'll be on cards like the 2004 BIONICLE "Kanoka Cards", maybe they'll be on 1x2 tiles like the Exo-Codes from LEGO Exo-Force or the game codes from this year's LEGO City Undercover set, or maybe they'll just be on the same Hero Core piece as in 2012 and 2013.I'm glad the new Hero arms and legs allow things to be clipped onto them, such as Stormer and Evo's datapads or Breez's boot-jets, but I'm a little bit sad that the heroes' wrists can't rotate, one considerable disadvantage they have compared to the Toa Inika/Piraka/Toa Mahri/Barraki minifigures or to classic minifigures. The lack of a rotating waist is less of a disadvantage, as that was always a sort of weird feature of the BIONICLE minifigures anyway.Minifigures also present a great opportunity for location-based sets, just as they did in BIONICLE. A model of the Hero Factory itself would probably have to be too large and elaborate to really be any good, but I'm currently building a model of the Assembly Tower interior on LEGO Digital Designer, and might even put it on LEGO Cuusoo if I can finish it to a state I'm happy with.Finally, in the "pie in the sky" category... wouldn't it be AWESOME to have a Hero Factory collectible minifigure series, like the LEGO Movie and Simpsons collectible minifigure series coming out next year? Just imagine being able to get all kinds of Hero Factory secondary characters, as well as classic heroes and villains, as minifigures! This is one place where the large number of humanoid characters in Hero Factory would work to the theme's advantage. Of course, this is probably not realistic. I doubt there would be as much demand for Hero Factory collectible minifigures as for ones that represent more diverse themes and genres, and Hero Factory is a pretty niche theme anyway. Plus, a lot of the more interesting and memorable Hero Factory villains (Witch Doctor, Von Nebula, XT4, Jawblade, Thornraxx, etc.) are different in size or design from the regular heroes.One potential result of Hero Factory minifigures will be that it could make Hero Factory appeal to more kids and AFOLs who are fans of traditional minifigure-based themes. Already I've seen a number of people celebrating this upcoming wave for its similarity to Exo-Force, and I anticipate a lot of similar crossover appeal once people realize that the hero minifigures and "classic minifigures" can basically be used interchangeably. Also, who knows? Maybe we'll even see Hero Factory characters show up in multi-theme crossovers like the LEGO Movie more often as a result.Overall, I think the switch to minifigures is promising, and I hope it's not just a one-year thing. It'll take some time to truly explore the new possibilities this change has opened.

I'm pretty sure that it's just the distortion from the plate glass on the mechs, but the minifigs helmets look sort of smashed flat. Hopefully that won't be true of the actual sets.

Actually, I imagine part of that look is because they have to fit over classic minifigure heads, which are a lot wider relative to their height than Glatorian heads and the like. The masks could probably have been made better-looking if they were designed to fit over 1x1 round bricks instead of minifigure heads, but then they wouldn't be quite as versatile, so I reckon it's an acceptable sacrifice.

I'm just gonna hope they make some mini-fig scale 'hero-assembly' chamber, and also some hf 2.0 style helmets that work for them, so we can get completely custom guys at this scale

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I think this is a pretty good idea, actually. It's breaking away from the designs of the past couple of years, and it's giving more mecha to those who missed Exo-Force. It also feels a bit like Pacific Rim, especially with the design of those monster heads. Plus I want those pieces.

I really like them. They allow for larger accessories to be added, such as the mecha suit sets and they could probably get a few playsets, like the factory itself (Or at least part of the interior). The new parts are always a plus, as the helmets look awesoma and the arms seem pretty versatile.

I don't like that the ability to make your own Hero is gone, and I don't like that this looks like a rip off of Pacific Rim.

I don't know that I'd say the ability to make your own hero is gone entirely. There's plenty of existing minifig helmets that could be used for masks now, and there will be plenty of options for fig colors once all is said and done (especially if the summer wave includes the other Alpha 1 team heroes).As for looking like a rip off of Pacific Rim, I like to think of it more as an homage. And considering that, it joins a long line of pop-culture-inspired Lego themes, from the Jurassic Park-inspired Dino theme to the Indiana Jones-inspired Adventurers theme, with many assorted themes in between.

Having seen how perfectly the new helmets and armor fit on classic minifigures, I'm even more psyched about them! I'm also very impressed with them proportionally. Despite being just over two inches tall, they don't feel any more "chibi" or cartoony than regular Hero Factory heroes, so it shouldn't be hard for Hero Factory fans to take the designs just as seriously as ever.I was a bit surprised that the heads are solid, rather than transparent, but I don't really mind. I can either use transparent minifigure heads I own or order additional colors online if I want to see what they look like with transparent eyes, but overall I don't think that it'd make a huge difference.I ought to try my hand at 3D modeling and see if I could design some parts for 3D printing that would let me build characters like Daniela Capricorn, Lucy, Big Joe, Nathaniel Zib, Akiyama Makuro, Quadal, or even some previous villains. Then again, if we're REALLY lucky, one or more of those secondary characters might appear in future waves.But naturally, what I MOST want to get in future waves are the four heroes who were omitted from the first wave of 2014: Mark Surge, Jimi Stringer, Dunkan Bulk, and Julius Nex. I don't think it will be difficult at all for the summer sets to include all four of these characters. If previous years are anything to go by, there should be at least seven new sets in the summer, and there should be at least one mini-hero in each of those. If they just stuck to the heroes used in this wave, that'd be a LOT of repeats, and it'd just take one new mold and two recolors to make each of the remaining four heroes.

But naturally, what I MOST want to get in future waves are the four heroes who were omitted from the first wave of 2014: Mark Surge, Jimi Stringer, Dunkan Bulk, and Julius Nex. I don't think it will be difficult at all for the summer sets to include all four of these characters. If previous years are anything to go by, there should be at least seven new sets in the summer, and there should be at least one mini-hero in each of those. If they just stuck to the heroes used in this wave, that'd be a LOT of repeats, and it'd just take one new mold and two recolors to make each of the remaining four heroes.

Totally agreed.

Although I think that Stringer should get a guitar and/or his mech should be sonic themed, continuing the vibe from Breakout. That might be why those heroes are coming out later, because Nex's and Stringer's themes are slightly more complicated, and Bulk wouldn't be complete without an XL size mech, and they probably wanted to do only one per wave.

Bringing out this complicated theme change was probably big enough without venturing into complexity. Stormer, Furno, etc, are easier to get right.

I'm so glad this is a topic - I was just coming to the forums to say, even though I really don't like Hero Factory very much... I reeeeeally like the HF minifigs. I think it's fabulous that they're compatible with minifig stuff, they're posable, they didn't cram too much detail into the parts, but they made them reusable both as minifigs and as parts for other MOCs.

In comparison to sets with Bionicle minifigs, I actually prefer that they are doing it for the purpose of implementing them into actual HF Technic sets (mechs and creatures), rather than the weird amalgam of Bionicle/System that the Bionicle minifig's sets were. I didn't like that, and even as I'm trying to collect a full collection of every set, I'm still hesitant to spend my money on those. Whereas to me this is what it should be used for... actual HF sets that still look like HF but allow you to create 'large-scale' things in the world without buying a $100 megaset for the full-sized heroes (did I mention I loved the Exo-Toa? I think that was handled well too).

Plus they're cute. o3o

Plus plus, I could actually consider HF cosplay for these little guys.

on a side-note, Aanchir just made me realize that my 3D modeling experience can actually come to good use if I can buy/get access to a 3D printer...

I'm so glad this is a topic - I was just coming to the forums to say, even though I really don't like Hero Factory very much... I reeeeeally like the HF minifigs. I think it's fabulous that they're compatible with minifig stuff, they're posable, they didn't cram too much detail into the parts, but they made them reusable both as minifigs and as parts for other MOCs.

In comparison to sets with Bionicle minifigs, I actually prefer that they are doing it for the purpose of implementing them into actual HF Technic sets (mechs and creatures), rather than the weird amalgam of Bionicle/System that the Bionicle minifig's sets were. I didn't like that, and even as I'm trying to collect a full collection of every set, I'm still hesitant to spend my money on those. Whereas to me this is what it should be used for... actual HF sets that still look like HF but allow you to create 'large-scale' things in the world without buying a $100 megaset for the full-sized heroes (did I mention I loved the Exo-Toa? I think that was handled well too).

Plus they're cute. o3o

Plus plus, I could actually consider HF cosplay for these little guys.

on a side-note, Aanchir just made me realize that my 3D modeling experience can actually come to good use if I can buy/get access to a 3D printer...

Funnily enough, I feel the opposite way about playsets: I hope Hero Factory does have at least one large, System-based location set in the summer wave. One thing constraction-only themes can suffer from is a sense of place. From its start, Bionicle crafted a lush and detailed setting for its characters to exist in, but until the playsets, it was basically impossible to recreate these environments when playing with your Bionicle figures. The playsets provided an avenue whereby we didn't just have to read descriptions or look at pictures of locations like the Metru Nui Coliseum or the Piraka Stronghold; for the first time, you could reenact entire scenes from the story with scaled-down figures.

The Hero Factory sets for this year offer hints of the world the theme takes place in. The Kaiju swing lampposts and pieces of masonry as their weapons. But I still want more. I want to see the Hero headquarters, with its holographic training spheres and call centers and hangars and the center of it all, the Assembly tower. I want to see what the Heroes are supposed to be protecting: cities and skyscrapers and space stations and, if we're really lucky, some of the civilians who populate these environments. Hero Factory hasn't been lucky enough to get something like the Mata Nui Online Game, to flesh out its universe and make it feel populated. It hasn't had playsets to provide a backdrop for epic battles between good and evil. The minifigure-scale models this year make all that feasible, and I for one hope Lego takes full advantage of it.

I love the Hero Minifigs so much... hopefully, by some miracle, they'll stay through 2015 as well, but I don't think we'll be that lucky, unfortunately. That said, I will lose all respect for Lego if they do not release Bulk, Stringer, Surge and Nex in the summer to some capacity.

Heck, this will be the first time I've wanted Hero Factory sets badly in...I'd say 3 years. The minifigures look awesome, and of course the fact you can put the armor on normal figures is even better.

I do think they should release some new mini-heros along with Bulk, Stringer, Nex, and Surge. More variety in the figures would be very nice. They could not do that, and instead have little 'Hero packs' which would come with a mini-hero, like the Collectible Minifigures.

Or, even an online create-a-hero, like the Recon squad that they did. Make your own minifigure, then you'd have the chance to buy it.

Heck, this will be the first time I've wanted Hero Factory sets badly in...I'd say 3 years. The minifigures look awesome, and of course the fact you can put the armor on normal figures is even better.

I do think they should release some new mini-heros along with Bulk, Stringer, Nex, and Surge. More variety in the figures would be very nice. They could not do that, and instead have little 'Hero packs' which would come with a mini-hero, like the Collectible Minifigures.

Or, even an online create-a-hero, like the Recon squad that they did. Make your own minifigure, then you'd have the chance to buy it.

Heck, this will be the first time I've wanted Hero Factory sets badly in...I'd say 3 years. The minifigures look awesome, and of course the fact you can put the armor on normal figures is even better.

I do think they should release some new mini-heros along with Bulk, Stringer, Nex, and Surge. More variety in the figures would be very nice. They could not do that, and instead have little 'Hero packs' which would come with a mini-hero, like the Collectible Minifigures.

Or, even an online create-a-hero, like the Recon squad that they did. Make your own minifigure, then you'd have the chance to buy it.

I'm personally hoping for a special Minifigures Hero Factory series.

I'm with you. It just might rope a few more people over to the theme. If not, it'll be good for us!

I really, really can't wait to get my hands on these sets.Heck, this will be the first time I've wanted Hero Factory sets badly in...I'd say 3 years. The minifigures look awesome, and of course the fact you can put the armor on normal figures is even better.I do think they should release some new mini-heros along with Bulk, Stringer, Nex, and Surge. More variety in the figures would be very nice. They could not do that, and instead have little 'Hero packs' which would come with a mini-hero, like the Collectible Minifigures.Or, even an online create-a-hero, like the Recon squad that they did. Make your own minifigure, then you'd have the chance to buy it.

I'm personally hoping for a special Minifigures Hero Factory series.

I'd like that too, but I fear that's not as likely as a series for, say, Ninjago, because every Hero Factory character no matter what their role is basically a part of the same genre (sci-fi). In contrast, when you look at the LEGO Movie, it plays around with genre to a very great extent — there are historical characters (Abraham Lincoln, William Shakespeare), fantasy characters (Marsha, Queen of the Mermaids), modern day characters (President Business, Hard Hat Emmet, Mrs. Scratchen-Post, Gail the Construction Worker, Larry the Barista), figures that seem to be fictional characters within the fictional universe (Taco Tuesday Guy, Panda Guy, "Where are my Pants" Guy), and characters that blend two or more genres (Calamity Drone, Wild West Wyldstyle, Scribble-Face Bad Cop, Velma Staplebot, Wiley Fusebot).

A series themed around another zany and playfully anachronistic theme like Ninjago would also have the potential for figs from several different genres. But Hero Factory could only deal in two groups: "futuristic/sci-fi characters" and "characters that blend two or more genres". As a result I think it'd see less demand than a Ninjago or LEGO Movie series might. Then again, perhaps if there were a theatrical film that'd be enough to drive demand without appealing to fans of a whole lot of different genres.

Honestly I'd rather see some more regular scaled figures. I'm a very new Hero Factory collector and I'm a little disappointed that the next year is going to be all minifigures because they don't scale with my current ones.

I think they should combine regular size figures and minifigs, like have a regular figure of a character, and then a boxed set with the minifigs and say a vehicle or something as to appease all parties. And not like Bionicle's $100 sets.

I think they should combine regular size figures and minifigs, like have a regular figure of a character, and then a boxed set with the minifigs and say a vehicle or something as to appease all parties. And not like Bionicle's $100 sets.

That's totally the same as Chima. That would have HF and Chima compete with each other.

I think they should combine regular size figures and minifigs, like have a regular figure of a character, and then a boxed set with the minifigs and say a vehicle or something as to appease all parties. And not like Bionicle's $100 sets.

That's totally the same as Chima. That would have HF and Chima compete with each other.

Then wouldn't that pit every single minifig set series against each other?

I think they should combine regular size figures and minifigs, like have a regular figure of a character, and then a boxed set with the minifigs and say a vehicle or something as to appease all parties. And not like Bionicle's $100 sets.

That's totally the same as Chima. That would have HF and Chima compete with each other.

Then wouldn't that pit every single minifig set series against each other?

Not every minifig series has constraction sets to go with it. HF and Chima do.

I think they should combine regular size figures and minifigs, like have a regular figure of a character, and then a boxed set with the minifigs and say a vehicle or something as to appease all parties. And not like Bionicle's $100 sets.

That's totally the same as Chima. That would have HF and Chima compete with each other.

Then wouldn't that pit every single minifig set series against each other?

Not every minifig series has constraction sets to go with it. HF and Chima do.

But the point is that if multiple themes that include minifigures can coexist, and multiple themes with constraction figures can coexist, then there's no reason that only one theme with both can exist at any given time.

But the point is that if multiple themes that include minifigures can coexist, and multiple themes with constraction figures can coexist, then there's no reason that only one theme with both can exist at any given time.

I have gotten the Evo Titan Machine (still not calling it XL) and Furno Jet Machine, so I got a better look at the minifigure in person and I have to say that... I hate it, the legs don't look right at all (plus i don't even know if there are legs at all), the skeleton is okay because I can see what they was trying to do there and the armor is already, I do like it but there is one thing that is wrong, you can't put alot of hate or hair on the minifigure. the arms I don't like but they can be really good for the robot fingers. Evo and Furno helmet I love plus I do hope they make more of them in different sets and theme.

Now that I have some of the sets from this year, I love the minifigures even more than before. They're beautifully proportioned, and their masks and armor look great on classic minifigures. Definitely far superior to any of the three styles of BIONICLE minifigure.

They do have one point of articulation fewer than the BIONICLE minifigures, since they don't have rotating wrists. But I think the ability to clip things to both the forearms and the legs, and the ability of the legs to move independently rather than just rotating at the waist, are more than worth that small sacrifice.

I also love that classic minifigures fit perfectly in the seats of the machines (well, the controls need to be redesigned for them, but that's no tall order). That should definitely help increase the sets' appeal for System fans.

The change in scale also allows for creative builds that might have looked awkward for full-size characters. Furno Jet Machine is shorter than most hero and villain sets (about the same height as Toxic Reapa), but its shoulders are a whopping twelve modules wide — smaller than the 15-module shoulders of Toa Mahri Kongu, but wider than the shoulders of Frost Beast or any Toa Inika. It's not the least bit naturalistic, but for a battle machine it looks beautiful.

The hero minifigures fit wonderfully in both the cockpits and the containment tanks, meaning you could easily repurpose those tanks as recovery cells of some kind rather than prison chambers. You could also use them as prison chambers for some unsavory robot villain to imprison the heroes or vice-versa.

I can't say for sure whether I'd like minifigures back in future years. It'd be cool if we could get both full 7" versions of the characters and smaller 2" versions, but that's not necessarily the best thing for kids who would want all the sets from a given year to be compatible, and the full 7" heroes' similar humanoid builds might seem simplistic now that we've seen there is an alternative, and one that doesn't require giving the heroes themselves irregular physiques.

Also, these new mini-hero arms and legs seem like they could work just as well for BIONICLE characters like Toa Mata Tahu as for Hero Factory characters. So if the collectible Minifigures series ever started to include robot and skeleton builds rather than just the classic minifigure build, that could raise some interesting possibilities...